


Thief

by alphayamergo



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, enchanted forest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-14
Updated: 2013-12-14
Packaged: 2018-01-04 15:17:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1082565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alphayamergo/pseuds/alphayamergo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn't entirely unexpected, but it hurt all the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thief

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from Helenluvsboo: Graham catches thief!Emma in the act and shows her mercy and kindness.

It wasn’t entirely unexpected, but it hurt all the same.

Graham wrenched upright in his chair as the door edged open. He’d been waiting a while for the sighted thief to arrive in the physician’s chambers. Medicines and food had been disappearing from the castle’s stores for slightly over a month now, and most had suspected the unpredictable and (most importantly) newly arrived Emma Swan to be the culprit. Graham had never truly believed them, but that was unmistakably blond hair appearing around the doorframe, and that was definitely Emma’s lithe body slipping in through the doorway.

She stopped short when she spotted him, her hand edging backwards to rest on the doorhandle as if she expected to be making a run for it shortly.

“I’m not going to throw you in the dungeons, Emma,” he said quietly.

“I’m sorry if I find it hard to believe you’ll let me go unpunished,” she snapped. She was looking around, eyes darting to find all possible escape routes. Graham realised, with a sudden rush of clarity, that Emma always did this when entering a new room, like she half-expected she’d need to run at some point. He wondered what had happened to her.

“I will if you have a good reason,” he said, “and I don’t know why you’d be stealing medicines for a bad reason.”

Emma met his eyes, looking uncertain. “Come with me,” she said eventually. And without bothering to check if he’d follow, she turned on her heel and marched out of the room. Graham hurried after her, catching up within moments, and followed her through the castle, winding down the centre staircase and walking down hallways until they stood at the door to her chambers. She took a deep breath. He didn’t know what to say to comfort her, so he placed his hand on her shoulder: something he’d done so often, but felt so foreign after the radical re-evaluation of her he had to make tonight.

Emma pushed open her door, calling out softly. “Henry, baby? You still awake?” Graham took in the room for the first time since he had given it to her when she arrived. There were a pile of cloaks on the floor that seemed to be being used as a bed, while on the actual bed, a small lump lay. The lump stirred.

“Mama?” called a small voice.

Emma relaxed, hurrying over to the bed. “Hey, baby,” she whispered, sitting down next to the boy. She pushed some of his hair out of his face as Graham walked closer.

“You have a son?” he asked, taking in the boy’s features, and the deathly pallor of his skin. The child was very young - Graham guessed around three or four.

“This is Henry,” she said. “He’s three year’s old. Come on, kid, can you sit up?” Henry did so, coughing weakly as he did so. “Henry, this is Graham. He’s the one who’s been getting all your medicines.” That was a bit of a stretch, but Graham didn’t protest the point.

“They taste funny,” grumbled Henry, slumping where he was sitting Graham smiled.

“Manners,” Emma said sternly.

“T’ank you, Graham,” said Henry.

“It’s okay, Henry,” he said, sitting on the bed beside Emma. “I think they taste funny, too.” Emma laughed and Henry smiled tentatively up at him.

“Go back to sleep, kid,” said Emma, helping him back into a comfortable position. In a few moments, Henry’s breathing had evened out.

“Why did you hide him?” asked Graham. “We’re not exactly in the habit of turning away sick children.”

“There are people looking for us,” said Emma. “If word got out…”

“What sort of people?” he asked.

“Dangerous people,” she said shortly.

“ _Emma._ ” He caught sight of a piece of parchment underneath her pillow, with the letters ‘ _WAN_ ’ poking out. He leaned over and grabbed it, taking it in just as Emma sighed.

“The Evil Queen,” she said finally.

Graham looked up at her. It wasn’t surprising that Emma would end up here if she had been running from the Evil Queen. Graham was lord of the last fiefdom before one reached the small patch of land that Regina the Usurper had managed to keep after the war. Graham was certain that when Snow and David had made him lord of the land they hadn’t expected their advance to be permanently halted not far past his castle, but it had happened nonetheless. Graham’s castle was now the last outpost before stumbling into the Evil Queen’s lands, and hence had played host to many refugees over the years.

“You’re now under my protection,” he said instantly. “And therefore the crown’s. Regina can’t take you without declaring open war.”

Emma smirked bitterly. “I’ve been under the crown’s protection ever since I was born. It didn’t stop her.”

“I’m guessing Emma Swan is a fake name,” he said.

“Well, ‘Swan’ is,” she said. “When I was little, I used to read books about people using fake names and then never remembering to respond when their fake name was used. I thought I should keep my first name, then.”

Graham looked back down at the wanted poster. Emma’s face was drawn on it, and it was yellowed slightly, making him think it was a few years old. He noticed how large the reward was for her capture and the lack of charges. The reward money was far too big for just a thief, no matter how much she had stolen. He looked back up at her questioningly. “You can work it out, Graham,” she said. “Think about it.”

He did. The large reward, but lack of charges and lack of information released about it when it must have happened. Being under the protection of the crown, but being taken by the Evil Queen anyway. And finally, her name…

It seemed like an impossible idea – the Queen had _killed_ her – but it was the only one surfacing. He looked up at Emma. “You’re the Lost Princess.”

“Got it in one,” she smirked.

There were a lot of questions to ask, but finally he settled on, “I didn’t think people got pregnant in the Evil Queen’s dungeons.”

Emma laughed. “There was a guy there, same age as me. Baelfire. I loved him. Regina was keeping him there as leverage over his father. One morning though, I woke up and he was gone.” She shrugged. “I guess his father rescued him. But being pregnant actually helped me out. I wasn’t showing when I escaped, and after I was out, they weren’t looking for a pregnant woman, or a woman with a child.”

“How did it take you so long to get here?” he asked. “Henry’s three, at least.”

“It’s hard to travel when heavily pregnant, or with a small child,” she said. “And whenever I moved, I had to carry him, so I was exhausted easily. Eventually a man in a village gave me a horse and a way to strap Henry to me so he wouldn’t fall unless I did. Then he got sick…”

“We need to get you to the Capital,” he said finally.

She smiled. “We need to sleep. It’s the middle of the night, Graham,” she said. “We can leave tomorrow morning.”

He smiled. “Good night, Your Highness.”

“Graham, I swear to Gods if you say that again,” she said threateningly.

“Say what, Your Highness?” he said, and ran from the room before she could throw something at him.


End file.
